44 



INTERNAL STRUCTURE. 



entire rat, — an operation, however, not accomplished without 

 some difficulty, the bird making several efforts before it suc- 

 ceeded, and even then the tail remained visible for several 

 minutes. But the voracity of Gulls is exceeded by some other 

 fish-eating birds. Thus the Pelican, it is said, will at one 

 repast, if hungry, devour as many fish as would suffice for 

 half-a-dozen people ; and, like the Gulls above mentioned, will 

 in confinement snap up rats and other small quadrupeds. 

 The Gannet, another fishing bird, has been known to swallow 

 an entire cod of moderate size, and a Puffin kept in a 

 menagerie to eat as much fish as its whole body weighed. 

 Well might the eyewitness to such an extraordinary exhibition 

 of gluttony declare, that "he never saw so unsatiable a 

 devourer ; " and what was still more surprising, " that the body 

 did not appear to swell the bigger." * Of the destructive 

 character of Herons with regard to fish some idea may be formed, 

 from no less than five eels having been found in the stomach 

 of one which was shot. Voracity is not, however, entirely 

 confined to the fishing tribe, for some that live upon fruits can 

 dispose of an equally surprising quantity. For instance, the 

 Cedar-bird of America will devour every fruit or berry that 

 comes in its way ; and will gorge itself to such excess, as 

 sometimes to be unable to fly, and may be taken by the hand. 

 Some, indeed, although wounded and confined in a cage, have 

 eaten apples until suffocation deprived them of life in the 

 course of a few days ; and when opened they were found to be 

 crammed to the very mouth. 



Very frequently in woods, or solitary places, round balls, or 

 lumps of semidigested substances, composed of small bones, 

 claws, feathers, hair, &c, may be found on gateposts or rails. 

 These are the discarded remnants of food thrown from the gul- 

 lets of Hawks, Owls, &c, which, if allowed to pass into the 

 stomach, might remain so long in an undissolved state as to 

 prove injurious to the living bird. To defend the tender lin- 

 ing of this inner passage, the sides and under-surface of the 

 tongue, and the upper part of the gullet, are furnished with 

 * Evelyn's Memoirs. 



